Cheat Sheets

When it comes to writing stylish sentences, you have many choices. You can go vintage or opt for the latest thing to hit the runway as long as you don't violate the rules of grammar. Here are some points[more…]

Texts, tweets, instant messages, e-mails, and visual presentations featuring bulleted lists are relatively new on the scene, and the grammatical rules governing them are still evolving. Nevertheless, most[more…]

As the old cliché says, "practice makes perfect," and while you're on the road to grammar perfection, a quick glance at the rules for proper grammar usage may help. Review some basic — and important —[more…]

Employers, psychologists and others today use personality tests to assess a person’s aptitude for tasks and to help resolve personal problems and conflicts. These tests can help creative writers find and[more…]

When you describe an object in creative writing, a person or a place, finding the right words can be difficult if you want to avoid falling back on cliché. Readers have become so used to certain words[more…]

Many written stories start with an idea generated by asking ‘What if . . .?’: What if humans discovered that they’re not alone? What if a volcanic explosion triggered a tsunami that destroyed a major city[more…]

When you come to revise your written work, you often find that the style has evolved from the beginning to the end, so that you have to go back and rewrite the beginning in the style of the last chapters[more…]

You hear a lot of potentially damaging misconceptions about writing. Here are ten common myths and a toss toward where they belong – in the waste bin. Don’t let them get in the way of your creativity![more…]

How do you know when to add an apostrophe to more than one of something that forms a proper noun, such as a person's last name? You don't have to be a grammar wizard to get the right answer. If you want[more…]